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Abstract

Norms of huidiglik. In Afrikaans, huidiglik is a truly Janus-faced word: it is being used with high frequency in especially spoken language, while at the same time being one of the biggest language pet-peeves of language practitioners (and even ordinary speakers of Afrikaans). When asked why huidiglikshould be avoided, these language practitioners and language users often cannot provide any reasoning about it. A comprehensive literature review also reveals that linguists and language practitioners often give contradictory, or even linguistically incorrect reasons for why huidiglik is supposedly not acceptable in (standard) Afrikaans. By comparing a variety of normative grammaticographic sources (such as reference guides and prescriptive grammars), this article shows that: (1) huidiglik originated, on a balance of probability, in the 1970s in the South African Parliament; and (2) apart from stylistic preferences (e.g. that it sounds pretentious, feigned and affectatious), none of the linguistic arguments against huidiglik holds water. In a supplementary article in this issue of the journal it is being illustrated that huidiglik is alive and well in written (Standard) Afrikaans.